What is your opinion with the Army's push to certain MOSs giving soldiers an automatic promotion to Sergeant upon completion of said school?

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 12:53:36 -0400

With the new cyber branch opening and many positions needed to be filled what is your opinion on an automatic promotion to Sergeant. There are serveral other jobs that's will do the same in other Army beaches if you reclassify.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2015 12:54 PM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 12:54:14 -0400

That*

Response by SCPO David Lockwood made Aug 5 at 2015 12:54 PM

SCPO David Lockwood — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 12:54:57 -0400

Navy's been doing that for years. Promotion to E4 upon completion of school. We called them push button thirds.

Response by SGT James Elphick made Aug 5 at 2015 12:55 PM

SGT James Elphick — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 12:55:19 -0400

They started doing this shortly after I was promoted to E-5 and shortly before I got out in 2005. It was a bad idea then and it's still a bad idea. The Army seems to think that some chevrons on your collar make you a leader when the reality is far different.

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2015 1:18 PM

CW4 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 13:18:27 -0400

This isn't anything new and in certain cases I agree with the system. Did you also know many Officer specialties offer the rank of CPT once basic Army entry courses have been completed. This happens with many medical field Officer MOS's.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2015 1:21 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 13:21:04 -0400

Just more evidence that sometimes SP5 is still necessary. I don't believe anyone should be able to pin on SGT until they have spent at least a year outside of a training environment and demonstrated leadership potential in that environment.

Response by SSG Trevor S. made Aug 5 at 2015 1:21 PM

SSG Trevor S. — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 13:21:08 -0400

If the Army is that low on personnel numbers, they should probably think about stopping the drawdown. Current NCO's are available for transfer and retraining, there should be no need to inundate the ranks with NCO's that have no experience leading.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2015 1:45 PM

SSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 13:45:06 -0400

Unless you have to be a certain rank to possess that MOS I would disagree with that policy. Like in the Marine Corps you have to be a Sgt to be in EOD. Cpls can opt for it and will be promoted upon completion of school to Sgt. Now with the Cyber branch, they should have contractors that have experience in the field fill those roles until people start getting promoted and can fill those roles. You can't create something new overnight and expect to have qualified people overnight to fill every role.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2015 2:02 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 14:02:18 -0400

Back in the day we had SPC5, 6, and 7.
Those ranks make a lot more sense, in this situation.

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Aug 5 at 2015 2:32 PM

SFC Mark Merino — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 14:32:07 -0400

Then they need to bring back the Spec ranks.

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Aug 5 at 2015 2:33 PM

SFC Mark Merino — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 14:33:51 -0400

I took the correspondance course to be General of the Army. Haven't heard back from DA yet.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Aug 5 at 2015 4:12 PM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 16:12:50 -0400

It's based on "Structure." Some MOS don't have E1-E4 in their "Structure" therefore upon completion of their MOS producing school, they are "automatically" (upon completion of requirements) promoted to the minimum structural rank.

In the USMC (while I was still active), EOD & Counter-Intelligence used to require at least 42~ months time in service, therefore, there were no Cpl & Below "billets." We just didn't have them, therefore as soon as people completed MOS school, they were promoted to Sgt if they had the TIG requirements (as they already had TIS).

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 5 at 2015 4:13 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 16:13:05 -0400

The Army has been doing this for years under the ACASP program. Also, it's not the Army pushing for it like you said, it's the Secretary of Defense.
It's been going on for years and I've never met one person who was promoted because of it, so you can imagine how few people this really affects. Chances are you will never run into a cyberwarfare guy, and if you do, they will probably not be in a position of authority over you in any way.

Response by SSG John Erny made Aug 5 at 2015 6:03 PM

SSG John Erny — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 18:03:57 -0400

From a leadership point of view it is a terrible idea, but from a recruiting point of view it works in that people with strong skill sets in the IT field may consider joining for the increased pay. Perhaps bringing back the SPC 5 and 6 should be looked at, the Army needs a way to retain skilled people in specialized fields where there may not be enough SGT slots.
Back when I first got in the fastest way to make SGT was to go EOD, for some reason the extra pay helped people choose that MOS. BOOM

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Aug 5 at 2015 6:33 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Wed, 05 Aug 2015 18:33:58 -0400

Horrible idea. We need proven leaders.